Hello all! I hate to be one of those guys, but I have no idea what I'm doing and can't seem to find a solution anywhere... will gladly trade my math expertise for one of y'alls knowledge in computers.

I recently downloaded ClamWin (version 0.98.1) onto my computer (Windows Vista, Home Premium SP 2) and thought it was working fine... however, I've realized that the only reason it isn't finding any viruses is that it has close to zero permissions (when I set it to show all scanned files instead of just infected files, everything comes up as access denied... additionally when I try to update, it times out (again, because it lacks permission to use network connections)

I tried turning user account controls off to no avail. Help me, ClamWin Support Forums, you're my only hope! And seriously, if you want a bit of light statistics or math done (anything but homework), I'd be glad to help (within reason) <3

What kind of Windows system are you using ClamWin on? Also, what kind of firewall are you using? If you are using a firewall other than the Windows firewall, you may have to give the firewall permission for ClamWin to update via the web. Additionally, if you are using another antivirus program, you may have to exclude ClamWin's program and data folders from the other AV program's scans. Additionally (we're adding a lot but you like math!), turn off User Access Control (control panel, user accounts, change user access setting). Finally, make sure that you have configured ClamWin to enable internet updates (configuration menu, preferences, internet updates). If this doesn't help you, then uninstall ClamWin and then re-install it. Lt us know the results.

Thank you for using ClamWin!

Regards,

I don't know what else to say about my computer, it's:
Windows Vista, Home Premium Service Pack 2
2x2GB ram
AMD Athlon dual core 5000+ series 2.6 GHz processor
GeForce 9200 with current drivers (this seems entirely irrelevant)

I have no other AV that could be interfering

tried:
manually installing definitions
turning off user account controls
turning off windows firewall (my only firewall)
turning off windows defender entirely
re-installing (tried 3 times)

and another symptom (forgot to mention first time)
Whenever I open a new clamwin window, it tells me "Virus signature database is older than 5 days and may not offer the latest protection. Would you like to update it now?" Even if I've just manually downloaded the current database.

Any previous versions have this effect? Have you tried rolling back to .98 or .97.7 to see if these are affected? Also, when you uninstalled, did you make sure there were no register entries left behind? You can do a manual check by looking through the LOCAL_MACHINE and CURRENT_USER sections of the register. If that doesn't help then try rolling back to an older version and see if that works.

Try what RRK suggested. If it does not help and you are not using the Windows firewall, see if you can set permission under the firewall for ClamWin to update. If you are using the Windows firewall, then I suggest you download Malwarebytes free antirootkit, install it, and do a quick scan with it for malware.

If ClamWin still does not work, get into Windows Safe Mode (F8 repeatedly upon bootup, select Safe Mode With Networking). Then update the ClamWin signatures and see if you can scan in Safe Mode. If ClamWin works in Safe Mode like it should, then something is preventing ClamWin from operating like it should in normal mode--probably hidden malware. Run a scan in Safe Mode with Malwarebytes.

Let us know how it goes.

Regards,